Martin Johnson cannot ditch the habit: 'I want to stay on as England boss after World Cup'

Martin Johnson has reacted to England's RBS Six Nations title triumph by indicating for the first time that he wants to carry on as manager after the World Cup. In fact, he referred to his job as 'addictive'.

The former World Cup-winning captain has strengthened his position in the past two months by guiding the national team to four successive championship victories. While the defeat against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday shattered England's Grand Slam ambitions, it certainly didn't undermine Johnson's appetite for his work.

Head and shoulders: Martin Johnson addresses his squad before Ireland game

His employers, the RFU, are determined to delay any contract negotiations until the World Cup campaign has run its course, although Johnson's current deal will expire in November. The manager is similarly content to put off talks for now.

But, asked if he wanted to carry on after the tournament which ends in late October, Johnson said: 'Yeah. It's a very addictive job, even with all the stress and disappointment. Monday was the worst day of the year because after a long tournament, you are sat there with nothing.

'There are no players to deal with and when you get that continuity and success, that's what you want to do it for. You want to win for England. It's a good environment. When will I decide? I'm not even worried about that - I'll just concentrate on the World Cup.'

Leading the way: Injured captain Mike Tindall insists he will be ready for the World Cup warm-up games

Johnson has revealed that Mike Tindall, who captained England to their four victories before missing the Ireland game with an ankle injury, had undergone surgery and would be out of action for around three months.

His season is over, but Tindall should be physically ready for the back-to-back warm-up games against Wales on August 6 and 13 and has made it clear he will be free to participate, despite the competing demands of his royal wedding to Zara Phillips.

'He spoke to me and said he is getting married at the end of July,' said Johnson. 'He just said "I will be available for that first game". That's the way we left it, but we will have further conversations. I've not had a wedding invite, not yet anyway!'

Northampton f lanker Tom Wood's assured efforts during the championship were further proof of the increasing flow of young talent coming fromthe academies.

That is an indirect tribute to the work of Rob Andrew, who will soon leave the post of elite rugby director, in line with RFU chief executive John Steele's reforms.

Andrew has overseen the club-country (EPS) agreement which has given the England management far greater access to their leading players and also the scheme which financially rewards clubs for developing homegrown talent.

Both factors have helped the national cause, but Andrew chose not to indulge in any 'toldyou- so' gloating on Monday. Instead, he spoke with measured satisfaction about the advances made.

'If we had said this time last year that we would win in the southern hemisphere for the first time since 2003, have our biggest ever win against Australia at Twickenham and win the Six Nations leading into the World Cup, with a lot more young players, we would have said that was very, very good.

Satisfied: RFU director of Elite Rugby Rob Andrew

'The development of players is very strong. We won the Under 20 Grand Slam on Friday night and we have a fantastic crop of young players coming through who Johnno is trying to turn into hardened international players. The platform is the (EPS) agreement, which took 18 months to sort out.

'We also now have the most English-qualified players we've ever had in the Premiership.'